The Chosen Path
by Kiiro Hibari
Summary: The distance between Ryu and Ken becomes intolerable and they naturally seek each other out. But will Ken's presence be enough to keep Ryu's dark side from surfacing? And what sinister force has begun to target Ken? Ryu/Ken SLASH or YAOI. Don't read if the idea of Ryu and Ken getting together upsets you.
1. Chapter 1

**Oo After watching Street Fighter Assassin's Fist, I went on a Street Fighter spree watching all the anime and reading a few of the comics. After that came the slash. DO NOT read this if the idea of Ryu and Ken together make you want to tear out your eyes. Also, I've combined various aspects from the many different universes of Street Fighter so this is my own interpretation of the characters. oO**

**The Chosen Path**

**Chapter 1: No longer in sight**

The blazing hot sun had yet to make its way above the horizon when Ryu began his strenuous training for the day. No two training days were ever the same because Ryu was always on the move. He used whatever was at his disposal to polish his strength and skills with. Sometimes that meant climbing mountains. Other days that meant racing through the forest at full speed, hearing the light crackling of pine needles and dry leaves beneath his bare feet while feeling the humid air brushing against his sweat soaked skin. He absorbed every sensation, every experience, with the utmost concentration.

As Ryu was slowing down, finishing his 20 kilometer run, he became aware of the high pitched drone of a swarm of cicadas welcoming the new day with their frantic singing. They were scattered around him, filling the nearby trees and bushes with the sounds of summer.

Ryu wiped the sweat from his face with the front of his white karate gi, and then shook his fingers through his drenched dark hair in a vain attempt to dry it. If Ryu hadn't been born and raised in Japan, the intense summer humidity might have sent him to the nearest hospital, suffering from heatstroke. If he were actually anywhere near a hospital, which he wasn't.

He still remembered his best friend's first summer in Japan. In the middle of August, on one particularly scorching hot day, Ken had sprawled on the steps of the dojo, fanning himself with the top of the red gi that he had taken off. "I can't spar today, Ryu. I'm melting," Ken had complained, swiping his long blonde ponytail off of his neck in annoyance.

At that time, Ryu hadn't been very good at English and Ken had been even worse at Japanese, so little had been exchanged between them. Ryu had just stood there, patiently waiting for his American counterpart to recover, absently noting that Ken's pale skin didn't naturally tan like Ryu's did. Ken was as red as _umeboshi _– Japanese pickled plum – a food that Ken absolutely hated.

After a few minutes went by with Ken grumbling and Ryu feeling his patience waning, Master Gouken appeared from the path leading to the temple. He was wearing black _hakama _ - traditional Japanese pleated trousers – with a plain white kimono, despite how uncomfortable the heavy material must've been making him feel.

"Ken. Ryu. Continue your training inside." Master Gouken was carrying a tray with iced barley tea and salted rice crackers. He stepped over Ken's legs to get into the dojo, taking the tea time snacks with him.

At the time, Ryu had to admit that he'd been disappointed to see his master showing the foreigner leniency during their training. Master Gouken had never allowed Ryu to slack off, or altered his training regiment, regardless of the weather. But after they were inside the dojo and the true extent of Ken's sunburn became obvious, Ryu softened a bit. Of course Master Gouken hadn't directly addressed the issue, choosing to spare Ken's dignity by casually dropping a healing salve into his lap on the way out. It was just one of the many indirect lessons that Ryu had continued to learn during his time training under Master Gouken, and with Ken.

The image of Ken's shiny red shoulders faded to be replaced by rough bark and a marching trail of ants.

Ryu blinked, not sure why he had been drawn back into that particular memory or why he was halfway up a Japanese cedar tree, his nails filthy with dirt and pieces of bark. There were times when his attention span would lapse and he'd find himself in the middle of some odd activity that he had no recollection of having started. This was one of those times. At nearly twenty meters off the ground, Ryu paused to try and force Ken from his mind. His powerful thighs locked around the thick trunk of the tree, giving his arms a rest as he debated whether to continue going up or go back down.

"_Do you ever stop training? What do you do for fun?" _ Ken had asked Ryu in grammatically incorrect Japanese when they were well into their second year of training.

In the process of reaching for a new handhold, Ryu's grip faltered and he slipped backwards, clawing ungracefully for the trunk of the tree. He missed and ended up arching his back at an uncomfortable angle, letting the muscles in his legs do all the work in keeping himself in place.

Ryu hung there for a few seconds, eventually working his abdominal muscles and managing to pull his upper body back into alignment with the tree trunk. The ants curved away from his calloused fingers that he used to grab onto the bark, quickly easing himself back down the way he had come. He could just imagine if Ken had been there to witness his little slipup. Ken would've been laughing his head off, teasing Ryu for not being as perfect as he made himself out to be.

With an inaudible sigh, Ryu realized that he would've given anything to hear Ken's laughter again.

* * *

Halfway around the world, as well as 16 hours behind, Ken Masters was sitting at his desk, staring at a spreadsheet full of seven digit numbers. He leafed through a few booklets on his cluttered desk, entered a few more numbers, glanced up, then back down again at some handwritten notes. Switching applications, he typed up an abrupt note to his father, hit _send_, and then pulled up his schedule for the following week.

Less than five minutes later, Ken's cell phone was buzzing on top of the desk, his father's personal number flashing ominously at him.

"What now?" Ken muttered to himself. He tapped the screen to accept the call and returned his attention to his schedule. "Hey, Dad! What's up?"

"Ken, what are you doing now?" Mr. Masters' accusing tone immediately got Ken's attention.

"Going over the spreadsheet that you sent me. Again. It was full of mistakes," Ken said sarcastically.

"Are you sure that you're really focusing on work? Because judging by that email you just sent me, it seems like you're multitasking again."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"'Hey Dad, I don't know hadouken the accountant missed this handful of expenses. Will fight it now. Ken.'" Mr. Masters read back Ken's most recent email, trying to keep his tone level as he did so. "Hadouken? You're not doing that now, are you?"

"Dad, come on!" Ken swore under his breath. "You know how unreliable technology is. I can't type my name without autocorrect changing it to something bizarre."

"Autocorrect didn't do this. Hadouken isn't even a word. If you can't keep your mind on the task at hand, I suggest you take a break and leave the financial records alone before you screw something up. I don't have the time to double check your entries."

Counting backwards from ten to one, Ken used all his willpower to prevent him from mouthing back at his father. "Okay. Whatever. I'll check it again in the morning." After hanging up, Ken ran his hands through his long blonde hair in frustration. Was he really doing this again? Thinking of fighting in the middle of working hours? Lately he was having trouble separating the boring drudgery of paperwork that his father kept dumping on him from the exciting life of fighting and honing his ki. If Ryu were in his place, there would be no question about his dedication or focus.

Ryu…

When was the last time he'd seen Ryu? It had to have been at least a year ago because Ryu never visited San Francisco in the winter, and Ken never went back to Wakayama in the summer. In fact, Ken hadn't been back to Japan for over three years. Although he had a lot of fond memories of Japan and enjoyed spending time in his mother's birthplace, he had very little time for leisure trips while studying to take over his father's legacy. Every day there was something waiting for him to learn and memorize. If he wasn't studying the fluctuations in the marketplace, he was being taught how to keep his facial features still and impartial, putting on what his father referred to as a poker face.

Ken shuddered to think of the first business meeting his father had thrust him into. It had been a disaster.

"_You fight with a wild rage,"_ Ryu had said to Ken a few months after they discovered their beloved mentor murdered at the hands of Akuma. Ryu had easily blocked all of Ken's wild kicks and taken him down with a swift combination of punches, followed by a casual foot sweep. Ken remembered glaring up at Ryu, his chest and shoulders heaving with the exertion and embarrassment of having been defeated so effortlessly.

"_I'll show you rage," _Ken had snarled, ready to get up and knock Ryu off his high horse.

But Ryu's next words plowed through the fire that burned in Ken's veins and heart. _"I am not your enemy, Akuma is. You are not alone in this, Ken. We will avenge Sensei Gouken's death. Together."_ Although Ryu would never elaborate on what he meant or how he was feeling, the words alone were powerful enough to bring Ken back to his senses. Ryu reached down, offering his hand to Ken, and Ken took it, being hoisted back onto his feet.

Ryu's mere presence was enough to keep Ken grounded and his vision clear. The longer he went without seeing Ryu, the more control Ken seemed to lose. He was having trouble understanding why he wanted to take over his father's multi-billion dollar hotel enterprise, or why he was even sitting around in a chair all day looking at a boring computer screen. His leather shoes pinched his toes, and his designer necktie was always too tight, causing the starchy collars of his business shirts to chafe his neck. He felt like such a phony, pretending to be something that he was not. This was not the life that he had been raised to lead.

As Ken undid his necktie and flung it onto the desktop, toeing off his shoes on the way to his private elevator, he began to wonder if Ryu ever thought about him. And if so, was the confusion and emptiness a one-way thing, or did Ryu feel the same?

**Oo Please review if you want me to continue this! oO**


	2. Reconnecting

**Oo I felt inspired to write more after watching some Street Fighter II V episodes. They're not so great because they keep replaying the same scenes over and over again, but the slash hints are all over the place. Oh, and thank you to the 2 nice people who commented on part 1! I was really happy to see feedback! oO**

**Part 2: Reconnecting**

Ryu had been walking for five days straight, only stopping to rest for a few hours here and there, or to hunt and fish for food. He tended to avoid hikers and campers on his journey, keeping to himself until he was forced to merge with civilization in Tokyo. The whole trip had gone by so quickly that entering the crazed business district of Tokyo, in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon, came as quite a shock to a man who had grown accustomed to the peace and quiet of the forest.

As Ryu made his way through the busy streets, being bumped into and jostled, he found that his ability to concentrate had been greatly diminished. There were flashing signs trying to sell him products that he'd never heard of, the deafening mechanical noises of the pachinko parlors that he walked by, and on every street corner he was given a paper fan plastered with advertisements. So, with his handful of paper fans, and his pockets stuffed with free tissue packs – also complete with advertisements – Ryu walked straight through the gates of one of Tokyo's most popular all-girl high schools.

It was lunchtime, so Ryu drew a lot of unhealthy attention. Many of the girls put down their bento boxes to stare at Ryu's bare feet and rough appearance, whispering amongst themselves. A few others realized that there was something unique about the muscular karate man roaming around their school grounds and called out to him, giggling.

Finally, Ryu managed to catch the eye of one of the teachers. The small bespectacled man began to approach Ryu, all businesslike and assertive, but was shouldered aside by a girl with short dark hair, a pair of chopsticks in one hand.

"Ahh!" She cried out in worry and disbelief. "Ryu-san!" She quickly turned to the teacher and clapped her hands together, bowing apologetically. "This is my uncle, Sensei. I totally forgot that he was coming today."

"Now see here, Sakura. Your uncle can't just enter the school grounds without getting permission first. We can't have strange men coming and going as they please."

"Oh, Ryu-san isn't strange. He's just kind of senile." Sakura ignored the bewildered look that Ryu was giving both her and the teacher as she proceeded to grab Ryu's arm and drag him back out the way he had come in. "Come on, Uncle. Let's talk outside."

Once they were outside, Ryu shook off Sakura's arm and gave her a stern look. "Uncle? We are not that far apart in age," he said, uncomfortably looking away from the girls that were hanging around the gate, oogling him.

"Well, it was either that or watch you get hauled off to the police station for questioning. You just walked into an all-girls school without asking for permission first. Perverts do that all the time. The police station is usually where they end up." Sakura bounced on her toes, peering up into Ryu's face, her short uniform skirt blowing in the wind. "Are we going to begin training again? Is that why you're here?"

"No. I came from Wakayama to ask you for a favor."

"All the way from Wakayama?" Sakura's eyes widened. She glanced down at Ryu's blistered feet and had no reason to question the truth of his statement. "Do you want me to enter another competition? Is there a bad guy that needs his ass kicked?" She eagerly pounded her right fist into her left palm and waited for Ryu's answer.

"I need to borrow your cell phone."

"Huh?" Sakura's expression lost some of its youthful energy. "You walked all the way from Wakayama to borrow my cell phone?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Ryu replied matter-of-factly.

"You couldn't have used a pay phone?"

"It's for a long distance call."

"Pay phones make long distance calls, too."

Assuming a very calm, innocent expression, Ryu elaborated on what the problem was. "I need you to make the call for me. I don't know how to reach the United States."

"What?" Sakura burst into obnoxious laughter, nearly doubling over with the hilariousness of Ryu's words. "You want me to call for you, too?" She continued to laugh until she could barely breathe. Then, she became serious again. "Okay. Tell me the number and the city. I'll Google the country and area code."

After Sakura had put in the call, she passed her pink cell phone, filled with sticker pictures of her friends to Ryu. Her collection of cell phone straps jingled loudly as Ryu pressed the cell phone to his ear.

"Hello," he said unsurely, forcing his Japanese accent down and switching to English when the call went through. "May I speak to Ken, please?"

"_Ken no longer lives here. Is this, Ryu?"_ On the other end, Ken's father's unmistakable authoritative voice responded quickly.

"Yes, Sir. Where has Ken gone?" A twinge of concern piqued Ryu's voice, causing Sakura to raise her eyebrows as she stood eavesdropping beside him.

"_He moved into his own condo three months ago. He said that I was smothering his style, or something ludicrous like that. Anyway, where are you now, Ryu? Are you working? How has life been treating you?"_

"I'm in Tokyo, with Sakura. I was training for the next tournament, but I decided to take a break."

"_Sakura? That school girl? You're hooking up with her now?" _Mr. Masters sounded both impressed and repulsed at the same time.

"Ewww! No way!" Sakura grabbed the cell phone from Ryu and shouted into the receiver. "He's only borrowing my cell phone. It's dishonorable to hook up with one's master."

Ryu frowned as Sakura let him have the cell phone back, not quite sure what the phrase _hook up_ actually meant.

"_I'm relieved to hear that. So, if you're taking a break, that means that you have no plans for the summer?"_

"No, Sir. Not yet."

"_Well, Ken might not ever say it himself but I think that he misses you. He's been in this weird funk lately and has been training himself into the ground. It would be great if you could come and visit. Give him someone capable of hitting back."_

Upon hearing that invitation, Ryu's shoulders relaxed and he gripped the cell phone tighter in his hand. "That sounds great! I can take the next boat to the Philippines, and from there-."

"_Uh, Ryu, there are better ways to travel these days," _Mr. Masters interrupted. _"Give me the address of the place that you're staying and I'll have my private jet pick you up tomorrow morning."_

"Wow!" Sakura bounced back into the conversation. "Can I come, too? I have a month and a half off starting Monday! But, I can skip the next two days and call in sick." As an afterthought, she added, "I want to visit Ken, too!"

"_Just make sure you clear it with your parents first."_

And, just like that, Ryu's reunion with Ken had been planned out and finalized.

* * *

A day and a half after Ryu had finished speaking with Ken's father, Ken was sitting in his kitchen, making himself a champion's breakfast of buttered toast, a fried egg sunny side up with bacon, hash browns, tropical fruit in a bowl, and a tall glass of milk. He ate several meals throughout the day to keep his energy levels high when he intended to work out or go for a run in the park. Not everyone was like Ryu who could stuff his face full of carbs and still manage to move with deadly speed and force right after eating.

Thinking of Ryu made Ken feel melancholic so he picked up his laptop and began to go through his personal emails to clear his head. He was halfway through them when the intercom buzzed from the screen at his front entrance.

Without getting up, Ken patched it through to his laptop to check the surveillance camera, eyeing what looked like a maintenance crew waiting at the bottom of his private elevator.

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Masters? My name is Olivia Flint, I'm with building security," a proper looking brunette in a navy blue security uniform spoke up. "We're experiencing a problem with the ventilation system and need to send a crew up to fix it. A computer glitch is filtering the air from the parking garage directly into your suite."

Ken dropped the piece of toast that he'd taken a bite out of back onto his plate. "Since when?"

"About thirty minutes ago. We'd recommend you temporarily exit the building for health and safety reasons."

Knowing fully well the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning – the silent killer – Ken was already rushing into his bedroom to pull on a sweatshirt over his faded blue jeans. He keyed in the secret code to access the elevator, greeting the maintenance crew as they approached him, their fancy equipment beeping and putting out readings. They all wore masks and safety goggles that clashed with the fancy interior décor of the classy condominium that he lived in.

Olivia Flint nodded to Ken, instructing one of the men to take his pulse and scan him.

"Low level carbon monoxide readings," the man announced. "Pulse is slightly out of normal range."

Ken stood there dumbly, not really knowing what he should be doing when two of the men invited themselves into his penthouse suite.

"Mr. Masters, we're going to need you to sign this. It grants us access to your suite and holds us liable for anything missing or damaged."

Taking the pen that Olivia held out to him, Ken quickly glanced over the form that she held in her other hand before signing it. "What now?"

"It would be best if you waited downstairs in the lobby or outside in the fresh air. This should only take twenty to thirty minutes," Olivia instructed, standing guard by the elevator. "If you exhibit any symptoms – dizziness, nausea, fatigue – please don't hesitate to call on our twenty-four hour medical personnel."

"Um… okay." Ken backed into the elevator, wondered if he should go back inside to make sure he had locked all his valuables away, thought better of it and hit the button for the lobby.

Once the elevator was on its way down, Olivia narrowed her eyes at the four men who were at her disposal. "You have fifteen minutes. Tops. Leave nothing traceable behind."

"What if he becomes suspicious and comes back up here?" One of the men was already yanking off his mask so that he could communicate more efficiently.

Giving the man a sardonic smile, Olivia twirled the pen that Ken had just used to sign the false document in her hand. By the center of the pen protruded a sharp fiber so fine that it was nearly impossible to see unless you squinted at it, up close. "Why would he become suspicious? After the drug that I filled this pen with is fully absorbed by his system he'll begin to exhibit mild symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. In thirteen to fifteen minutes he won't be able to see straight, never mind come back up here to engage us in combat. As soon as the nausea hits, one of our operatives will be in place, ready to treat him. The drug will wear off in an hour, giving him no reason to seek out further medical attention. And our activities will be long forgotten by the time he goes to bed tonight."

"I should know better than to doubt you by now." They traded a knowing look and got back to their individual tasks.

**Oo What do you think so far? Please review if you have a free moment! Ryu and Ken will be reunited in part 3. oO**


	3. What friends are for

**Oo Many thanks to the nice people who reviewed this fic. Feedback is the only thing that really inspires me to write, so please leave a comment if you have a chance. It really makes all the hours of writing worth it! oO**

**Part 3: What friends are for**

Ken paced around the deserted lobby, hoping that the maintenance crew had the decency to remove their dirty shoes before walking around his living space. He checked his watch once, twice, and on the third time his vision blurred on the minute hand. When he tried to focus his eyes on the minute hand to will it to stop moving, the whole room seemed to shift and tilt instead. And the pressure in his head was reminiscent of a bad headache, something he rarely suffered from.

Maybe some fresh air might help.

Ken hurried out the automatic front doors of the building to suck in a grateful gasp of fresh air. But, the pavement suddenly rolled away from his feet as he lurched drunkenly for the bench that he knew to be somewhere near the walkway. His vision blurred and doubled, and the pounding in his head made him feel horribly nauseous. He nearly fell to his knees, but a pair of tanned, muscular arms caught him before he could collapse.

"Ken! Are you okay?"

He knew that voice from somewhere but he couldn't place exactly where. There were colors dancing in quivering blocks in front of him, lacking substance and definition. Ken lowered his head and squeezed his brown eyes shut, fighting back the urge to throw up.

"Come here. Sit down." The arms guided Ken to that bench that he'd been searching for where he sat with his head down, shoulders hunched, his long blond hair hiding the panicked expression on his face. "Take a deep breath." A hand was slowly rubbing circles around his back, spreading a warmth and something electric into his body. A ki! Ken recognized the energy as Ryu's ki and nearly bolted off the bench with a million questions. "Don't move!" Ryu warned, continuing to rub Ken's back and hold his best friend steady with his other arm.

"Ryu," Ken murmured, wishing he hadn't when the nausea returned twice as bad.

"Stay still and keep taking deep breaths. Your ki is disturbed."

What was Ryu doing in America? Where had he come from? And why did he sound so angry? Very few things had the power to coax an emotional reaction out of the stoic Shotokan warrior. Ken knew that firsthand because no matter how frustrated he became during their sparring matches, Ryu never lost his temper. Ryu never let himself be swayed by anything other than his desire to win and better his fighting skills. So, why was he giving off seriously hostile vibes now?

Ken nearly choked when he tried to take another deep breath, completely unaware of the poison that was now filtering through his body and mind.

"Keep your eyes closed and your head down," Ryu commanded, sounding even more pissed off than before. He pressed the palm of his right hand against Ken's chest, generating an incredible amount of spiritual energy with his ki. It was with this energy that he flooded Ken's body, mimicking the healing methods that he'd learnt from his Master Gouken, trying to flush out the toxins that he sensed were inhibiting Ken's system.

Staying absolutely still and trying to inhale as little as possible so that he wouldn't feel tempted to throw up, Ken allowed Ryu's ki to combine with his own, feeling it cleanse something inside him. The carbon monoxide poisoning?

But, suddenly Ryu was off the bench, his aura offensive and filled with a powerful rage. "Who are you? What do you think you are doing?"

"I'm a nurse," a light female voice answered timidly, drawing away from Ryu before continuing. "I was notified that Mr. Masters might require medical attention… after the carbon monoxide incident."

"What carbon monoxide incident?" Again, Ryu's anger increased, his normally quiet and reserved tone sounding dark and hostile.

Although Ken still felt too unsteady to open his eyes and check what was going on, he could guess by Ryu's tone and the nurse's stammered explanation that things were on the verge of getting ugly. "Ryu… back off," Ken ordered as firmly as he could manage.

"Can I please treat the patient?" The nurse hovered at a distance until she seemed to get Ryu's approval to move forward. "This is an oxygen mask. Completely harmless," she explained, more for Ryu's benefit than for Ken's, before fitting it over Ken's face. "A couple of minutes of fresh oxygen should have him on his feet again."

Ken breathed shallowly a few times, distrusting the plastic contraption that was flooding moist, cold air into his lungs. To be completely honest, he trusted Ryu's unorthodox spiritual healing a lot more than a faceless stranger and a tank of bitter tasting oxygen. But it was that bitter taste that cleared his lungs and then his head, finally giving him the strength to open his eyes after thirty minutes had elapsed. A petite redhead wearing a smart, blue nurse's uniform was crouched in front of him, taking his pulse, while Ryu stood uncomfortably close, his dark eyebrows narrowed at her.

"He's doing much better now," she cheerfully informed Ryu, not seeming to realize that forced emotions were very easy for someone like Ryu to read.

Ryu's dark eyes met Ken's, holding his gaze for several long seconds before he pushed past the nurse and was in Ken's personal space. If Ken hadn't known Ryu for half his life, and trusted him entirely with it, he would have had his fists up in self defense.

Completely ignoring the nurse now that her usefulness had ended, Ryu placed the palm of his hand over the left side of Ken's chest, resting it there to gauge Ken's heartbeat. He didn't seem to notice that the nurse was staring at him, and that Ken's face and neck had begun to turn pink from embarrassment. After a few strained moments of idle silence, Ryu withdrew his hand and let some of his anger fade. "Your heart rate is no longer erratic," was all he said before he moved away to watch the traffic coming into the outdoor parking lot.

"Um… well, he just needed to get it out of his system," the nurse reassured Ryu, probably assuming that he was in charge of the situation on some level. "I'd recommend that he spend a few more minutes sitting down before attempting to walk around again. Just to make sure that his head has cleared," she said to Ryu's back.

"_He_ is still here, and _he_ can hear you," Ken said in an annoyed tone, brushing his long blond ponytail out of his face.

The nurse gave Ken an apologetic smile, glanced over at Ryu to see if he had anything else to add, and then excused herself when she realized that neither of them had any intention of continuing on a conversation.

As soon as the nurse was halfway across the parking lot, Ken looked up at Ryu, curiosity and gratitude shining in his eyes. "Thanks, Ryu. I don't know where you came from, but you have perfect timing."

When Ryu turned to face Ken, there was something in his gaze and expression that was difficult to interpret. It was so unlike Ryu's usual easygoing nature. His dark eyes were burning with an intense emotion as they raked over Ken's face and body, as if studying him. Ken felt himself react to the peculiar attention, his cheeks burning crimson before he could control the reaction. Why was Ryu looking at him like that?

"Your body and mind were poisoned," Ryu said simply, dispersing all visible emotions as he looked away.

"Yeah, they had some kind of accident with the ventilation system. Carbon monoxide was being pumped into my suite. I didn't even notice."

"Carbon monoxide," Ryu repeated dully.

"It comes from cars," Ken began to explain but was cut off by a sharp look from Ryu.

"I know what carbon monoxide is, Ken. Are you sure that was what it was?"

Ken blinked, trying to figure out a way to interpret Ryu's question. "What else could it be? What are you implying? I haven't taken up recreational drugs or anything, if that's what you mean."

Ryu's tone softened as he hurriedly explained. "I never meant to imply anything like that. I was simply… worried. That's all."

Again, more silence separated them, but this time it was lengthier and thicker, almost tangible.

"I'm happy you're here, for whatever reason," Ken said in a friendly tone, hoping to shake off the awkwardness with his most disarming smile. But it was Ryu's reaction to that smile, the predatory way that Ryu stared at him, that drained the warmth from Ken's welcome and replaced it with confusion and uncertainty.

After a moment, Ryu replied. "So am I."

* * *

Olivia was sitting in the back of a white, unmarked van when the young nurse hopped into the front passenger's seat and slammed the door. Olivia glared at the woman through the rearview mirror before expressing her displeasure.

"You were supposed to be ready to go twenty minutes ago."

The redhead folded her arms over her chest and moodily returned the glare. "And you were supposed to double check the dosage of that drug before administering it to him. If I hadn't given him the antidote when I did, he may have gone into cardiac arrest. Try explaining that to our boss." What she didn't know was that Ryu's timely interference was the real reason that Ken hadn't needed to be transported to the hospital's emergency room.

Olivia shrugged off the danger that Ken's life had been in, instead choosing to focus on the muscular, Asian man who had intervened. "Who was that other man and what did he want?"

"I don't know who he was but he sure seemed dangerous. And he was really suspicious of who I was. I'm not sure, but judging by the way he looked at Masters, and the way he touched him, I would guess that they're in some kind of relationship."

"Oh?" Olivia raised an eyebrow at that bit of information.

"Trust me. I know an Alpha male when I see one," the nurse snickered haughtily, still upset by the way that Ryu had been able to see right through her act. "There's no way those two are _just friends_."

"Then we'll just have to keep an eye on him while we deal with Ken Masters." She signaled the driver to take off, satisfied that almost everything had gone according to plan.

**Oo Hope you liked this part! There will be more from Ryu's point of view in the next part. oO**


	4. The hunger within

**Oo Much appreciation again to the few people who have reviewed this. I don't know if more than 2 people are actually interested in seeing this continued… but I just spent the last two weeks working on it. So here it is. This part leads into the deep and complicated relationship that Ryu and Ken are going to have from now on. oO**

**Part 4: The hunger within**

After a long space of unpleasant silence, Ken found that he'd recovered enough to get to his feet, and began to walk stiffly back towards the upscale building that he now called home. He didn't feel the need to extend any sort of verbal invitation to Ryu because their friendship went a lot deeper than sparring and language exchange. They understood each other with or without words. Ryu was always welcome in his home.

And so, when Ken keyed in his code for the private elevator, Ryu was right by his side, as mute as ever.

"Are you going to tell me what brought you here, or do I need to guess?" Ken sighed as he entered the elevator and pressed one of three buttons inside. One was for his penthouse suite. The other two were for an emergency stop and a direct line to the security office.

Ryu regarded Ken from the corner of his eye, finally commenting on a tiny detail that had caught his attention. "Your hair is long again."

"I prefer it long," Ken said defensively. He was so used to arguing about his hair, attitude, and fashion sense, with his father that the response was automatic.

"So do I." Ryu agreed, revealing nothing in his expression when Ken gave him a searching look.

Ryu still remembered a day long past - the day when Ken had hacked off his long blond hair with a sword from the temple where they'd been living with Master Gouken. Towards the end of a particularly exhausting bout of sparring, Ryu had become distracted. His mind had wandered, and he had missed blocking one of Ken's lightning fast kicks. The kick itself hadn't been full force so Ryu had merely suffered a superficial cut across his forehead. He would have just gone on sparring, choosing to ignore the cut, if it hadn't begun to bleed into his eye. That's when Ken had taken the red sash that he normally bound his long blond hair with and used it as a bandage over Ryu's cut instead.

Ryu had attempted to wash the sash and give it back afterwards, but Ken insisted that he keep it as a memento of their fight – and Ken's victory. The next day, Ken had gone into the temple, borrowed Master Gouken's ceremonial sword, and sawed through his hair in two swift strokes. That day had opened Ryu's eyes to the way that he truly felt about Ken. It was the beginning of a long and complicated battle with his inner desires versus the path that Master Gouken had laid out for him.

Thinking that Ken's gift and the sacrifice of his long hair had contained some sort of hidden meaning, Ryu turned up the following morning with a handful of lilies from one of the ponds nearby. He had meant to place them by Ken's pillow before he woke up, but Master Gouken intercepted him on the way back into the temple.

"_Ryu, what are you doing out so early in the morning?_" Master Gouken shifted his stern gaze from Ryu's guilty face to the flowers that he clutched in his fist. "_Who are those for?_"

Having been brought up to be completely honest and forthright, Ryu had no problem stating the truth. "_For Ken._"

But Master Gouken's reaction was far worse than Ryu could have imagined. His master's jaw clenched and his grey eyes were devoid of any of their usual light. Now, they were filled with disappointment. "_Why would you give Ken flowers?_"

Sensing Master Gouken's disapproval and feeling foolish about his choice of gift, Ryu let his arm drop to his side, but he still held onto the flowers. "_I wanted to give Ken a gift in return for the one that he gave me._"

"_Ryu_," Master Gouken began sternly. "_Ken is a boy. You do not give boys flowers._"

Wordlessly, Ryu opened his hand and let the flowers flutter to the ground. He should have known that Master Gouken would stand between him and Ken. There were a million practical reasons why his master, and surrogate father, would object to the inappropriate feelings that he harbored for Ken. Flowers were the least of those reasons. Ryu bowed his head, his teeth clenched, preparing for his master's wrath.

But, Master Gouken's next words were not intended to reprimand Ryu. In fact, the words of wisdom that Master Gouken imparted Ryu with still stuck with him til this day. "_I understand how you feel about Ken, Ryu. In fact, I've known for some time that your friendship was on the verge of blossoming into something else. But, understand that the path you must follow cannot include Ken. Your destiny is one that you alone must face. You are aware of the darkness inside you; the power of Satsui no Hadou – the murderous intent. Do you wish for Ken to see this power? What if you accidentally used it against him?"_

Ryu was quick to object to that. "_I would never hurt Ken._"

"_Can you say with absolute certainty that you have this power under control?_" Master Gouken let Ryu ponder his words before continuing on another vein. "_And you are both still so young. There will be many more obstacles to overcome in your life before you are molded into the men that you were meant to become. Ryu, you commit yourself entirely to the art of Ansatsuken. Ken is a gifted fighter as well, but he is always one step behind. He gives in easily to distractions. If you confront him with your desires – and if he reciprocates your feelings – you may irrevocably destroy his future in the school of Ansatsuken. He will never reach his full potential. And you will never consider him your equal."_

"_So, you are saying that I must never act on my emotions? I can never be with Ken?_" Ryu swallowed hard to prevent himself from saying anything harsher, burying his feelings deep down, to where he usually kept them hidden.

"_That is not what I am saying. There is an order to things, Ryu. You must follow that order. If you are able to gain control of the Satsui no Hadou, and, if you feel that Ken is ready to accept your feelings for him, you will have my blessing to pursue a relationship with him. But not before that time._"

A flash of movement tore Ryu from the memories of his past and back into the present. Without consciously thinking about it, he grabbed Ken by his shoulders, holding him still as the blond swayed on his feet. Ken was pressing both palms to his closed eyes and breathing heavily.

"Ken. Ken! What's wrong?"

"The dizziness came back."

The elevator chimed and opened on the penthouse suite, leaving Ryu with no choice but to guide Ken out and help him sit on the plush carpeted floor. "I shouldn't have trusted her," Ryu angrily cursed at himself in Japanese before channeling his ki through his arms, and then his hands. "I should have finished the job myself."

"Dammit, Ryu, why did you have to choose to visit now?" Ken moaned, tilting his head back to rest it against the wall behind him.

"You said that were happy to see me," Ryu replied, feeling slightly hurt that Ken no longer seemed to want him around.

"That was before I had to embarrass you like this. It's so obvious that you're irritated by my weakness," Ken said bitterly. "I've never heard you sound so pissed off before."

"If I am irritated, it is not aimed at you," Ryu reassured his friend, trying to keep the heat out of his voice but failing miserably. He could sense the foreign substance that was clouding Ken's vision and impairing his mobility, swiftly moving through his body. It was also causing the blond a measurable amount of pain, which Ken had failed to mention. "Please just relax and concentrate on my ki." Ryu swept Ken's long blond bangs away from his forehead and pressed his hand firmly to the uncomfortably warm skin there. Ken was sweating. How had he not noticed that Ken was sweating? Closing his eyes tightly, Ryu searched within Ken, trying to identify the source of his discomfort.

Ken suddenly let out a muffled noise of pain, beginning to claw at the carpeting in an effort to mute his suffering.

"Where does it hurt?" Ryu asked sharply, opening his eyes to visually inspect Ken's face.

"My head… and my stomach," Ken gasped, digging his nails deep into the carpeting as he began to moan in earnest.

Ryu lifted up Ken's red sweatshirt, exposing his stomach, and brushed his fingers over Ken's taut, lower abdomen. Ken tensed up and shook his head wildly for Ryu not to touch him there. "I'm sorry," was all Ryu said before he simultaneously applied pressure to Ken's forehead and abdomen, listening to his best friend cry out in agony and try to squirm away. But Ryu firmly held him there, directing his ki at remnants of the poison that he'd detected in Ken before that nurse had shown up. However, now the poison was mixed with something else, something that hadn't been present before. It was quickly infiltrating Ken's body and organs, on the verge of doing permanent damage. "Ken, please hold on," Ryu pleaded, battling with the poison, drawing it away from Ken's vital organs and eradicating it.

But it wasn't an easy process. Whatever Ken had been exposed to was potent and lethal. It had been designed for one purpose – to kill Ken in as excruciating a way as possible.

Ryu didn't let up on his psychic onslaught, destroying the poison piece by piece. But his attention sometimes wavered, distracted by Ken's labored breathing and tortured moans. Finally, using up the last of his powers, Ryu tore the last fragment of poison from Ken's body and crushed it. When he withdrew his hands from Ken's sweaty skin, Ken slumped forward and into Ryu's arms. The blond was no longer breathing heavily. Now he was barely breathing at all.

"Ken!" Ryu shouted in alarm.

"…"

Ryu had to strain his ears to hear Ken's raspy voice, but it sounded something like 'my hero.' When Ryu lifted Ken's chin up with two fingers to get a good look at him, he was mildly surprised to see that despite the near death experience that Ken had just gone through, he still had the energy – and nerve – to smirk. It was empty, of course, for Ryu could feel the slight tremors that still shook Ken's sweat covered body. Ken was putting up a front for Ryu's sake, to try to put him at ease. But Ryu could sense the underlying fear and confusion that Ken was battling on the inside.

If Ryu hadn't chosen this day to visit Ken, his best friend would have easily given in to death. He would have lost Ken before he'd even had a chance to confess his true feelings to his longtime companion. Just the thought boiled red hot in Ryu's blood, causing his ki to pulse and surge well past the normal levels that he kept it at. He was grateful that Ken was okay, but at the same time he was enraged beyond anything that he'd ever felt before.

Before Ryu could regain his tenuous control over his ki, feeling the blackening power of the Satsui no Hado swarming around him like a horde of parasites, his darker side took over. He vaguely took notice of the long blond hair that his fingers combed through, or the warm damp skin of Ken's cheek that his hand pressed against. All of his concentration poured into the instant that his mouth covered Ken's. He felt Ken tense up all over, in no condition to deny Ryu the physical contact that he desired.

When Ryu's lips firmed up over Ken's, and his tongue pushed into Ken's mouth, his spiritual essence was waging war with itself. The part of himself that was usually orderly and contained was trying to pull back, to let Ken go. But the other part – the wild part – was surging to life like a condemned creature that had regained its freedom. Ryu held Ken close, embracing him like a familiar lover, as he kissed him eagerly with abandon. Ken was wonderful and warm, his heart beat becoming stronger and more regular the deeper their kiss became. And Ken's mouth was hot and welcoming, so much so that Ryu just couldn't seem to get enough. With one arm, he held Ken close, leaving his other hand free to stroke through Ken's long hair. His tongue slid over Ken's, desperate to taste more of him as he increased the pressure between their lips.

Whether Ken was too weak to protest, or whether he was actually letting it happen, Ryu could not tell. He was spiraling out of control and the rational part of him finally began to realize it. He heard Ken make a strained noise and begin to push against his chest, trying to pull away. At that moment, Master Gouken's sage words returned to him, snapping him out of the crazed aura that he'd drifted into. Was he hurting Ken? The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ken.

With a lot of effort, Ryu relaxed his hold on Ken and ended the kiss. Ken gasped desperately for a few seconds, trying to catch his breath and come to terms with what had just happened.

"Ken… I'm sorry," Ryu blurted out awkwardly. "I don't know what came over me."

Ken narrowed his now smoldering brown eyes at his friend and felt hot all over, but not from the mysterious poison that Ryu had saved him from. "Seriously?" He demanded angrily, but sounding more emotionally and physically drained than he could ever remember feeling before. "You're seriously going to sit there, like this," he gestured at where Ryu had left his hands, "and just try to explain it away?!"

"Ken, please calm down. You still haven't recovered. I shouldn't have…" Ryu said shamefully.

"What was that?!"

"A moment of weakness." Ryu was trying his best to reign in his feelings but was failing miserably because Ken still had yet to struggle out of his embrace. He didn't want to let go of Ken, even though his mind was screaming at him to do so.

"You had your tongue in my mouth," Ken said accusingly but somehow managed to lower his voice again so that he wouldn't exhaust the energy that he had remaining. He had meant to embarrass Ryu into coming clean with the truth, but no sooner had the words left Ken's mouth than his entire face turned red.

All the nervousness suddenly left Ryu as he stared hard at Ken, deciding that he'd bottled his feelings up for long enough. "You didn't say that you didn't like it," he challenged.

Ken opened his mouth to comment, but what could he say to such an incredulous accusation?

"Even now, you continue to tolerate my touch. If it were unwelcome, you would have protested."

Now Ken was looking at Ryu with a wariness that nearly erased the lingering feeling of Ryu's tongue on his lips. "That's very uncharacteristic of you to put the blame on me," he said quietly, not sure what he was feeling or what he should be thinking.

Ryu froze, realizing how his words must have sounded. He knew that the hunger of the Satsui no Hado was coloring his words. He knew that he should explain that to Ken before he ruined any chances that he had with the blond. If it hadn't been for the bloated pride of the darkness clouding his judgment, he might have apologized. But he didn't.

After a brief moment of uncertainty, Ken knocked Ryu's arm off of his waist and swatted away the hand that was stroking his hair. He barely made it to his feet before he collapsed again to his knees. But before Ryu could move in to help him, he somehow managed to steady himself enough to get to his suite door, unlock it, and retreat inside.

**Oo This part was super long. Please review if you'd like me to continue! It would make me really happy! oO**


	5. Lost trust

**Oo Sorry for the long wait for this part but I had a problem with writer's block and work interfering with my private time. Hopefully Part 6 won't take so long to write. oO**

**Part 5: Lost trust**

In a particularly tall office building, surrounded by massive glass windows, a similarly transparent glass door, and a bunch of sophisticated computer equipment, Olivia paced across the carpet in irritation. The man that she had invited into her office moments ago glanced at the image on her computer screen before dutifully lowering his eyes again. Olivia also found her attention being drawn towards the computer screen but eventually looked away again in disgust.

"How is it that he isn't dead right now?" Olivia glared at her co-conspirator in barely contained fury. But when one of her coworkers passed by the closed glass door leading to her office, her expression had reverted to one of mild indifference.

Arthur, the lowly tech geek who considered Olivia to be a goddess in his small, limited social domain, glanced again at the computer screen. Ken Masters could clearly be seen staggering towards the sofa in the living room, a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. Olivia's accomplices had done a good job of installing the surveillance equipment in Ken's home, whereas Arthur had apparently failed his mistress in his task.

Leaning forward so that his elbows nearly touched the desk, Arthur spoke to Olivia in a baffled and slightly apologetic tone. "I researched and measured out the doses for those drugs myself," he repeated for the tenth time. "The first one was enough to kill him within a couple of hours, but the second – the one that I filled the oxygen tank with in gas form – should have burned him from the inside out. It had a twenty to thirty minute delay before it activated, and then the symptoms would have materialized quickly. I promised you he would have an agonizing death. I reviewed all the possibilities."

"So, what are you saying?"

"That other man." Arthur pointed to the panel that displayed Ken's kitchen, and the muscular barefoot man who was raiding Ken's fridge. "What do you know about him?"

"Nothing," Olivia practically hissed. "He just showed up. But, look at him!" She waved her hand dismissively at the screen. "He isn't a doctor or a medical student. I don't even think he's a member of decent society. Who the hell would hire someone like that to work for them?"

Arthur shrugged, pushing his thick glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "It's bad enough that our plan failed, but if the boss finds out…"

"He won't." Finally choosing to sit down in her comfy office chair, mainly to avoid the suspicion of her fellow employees, Olivia moved onto the next plan. "His agenda is not our concern. The only thing I want is that over-privileged punk dead. End of story."

"That's going to be a bit more difficult now. He'll be very cautious after what happened today." Arthur peered over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening before addressing Olivia again. "I was too afraid to ask before because you were very angry, but I've got to know. What do you have against this kid?"

"Who? Ken?" Olivia laughed callously, refusing to let Arthur in on the joke. "I couldn't care less about him. He's just a pawn in all this. But, his death would solve so many problems. And Arthur, dear, you're going to make sure that Ken dies in such a way that it makes the front page in the newspaper."

* * *

With the comfortable feeling of soft, velvet cushions behind his back, and the living room lighting dimmed to match the growing darkness outside, Ken almost felt like he could relax. Almost. But then the pain in his stomach would return and his head would begin to pound. He reached for the bottle of aspirin that he'd placed on the coffee table… but his hand came back empty.

When Ken opened his eyes to search for the bottle, his gaze fell on Ryu's face instead. Ryu was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the bottle of aspirin at his side. "Until you have recovered from whatever you were poisoned with, you shouldn't be taking any drugs," Ryu explained.

Ken shifted on the sofa, propping another pillow behind his head so that he could observe Ryu more easily. "My head kills. Can you do something about that?" It was much easier to challenge Ryu than discuss what had happened outside the elevator an hour ago.

Ryu gave Ken a worried look and then shook his head. "Do you know how close you came to death?" Ryu asked in a hushed voice, feeling the hairs on the backs of his arms and legs bristling with energy. He didn't like being in this room. He'd never been in Ken's condo before, but he was absolutely certain that something didn't feel right about it. "I exhausted my ki, Ken. I have nothing left." Shifting around restlessly, Ryu watched Ken nervously draw his legs closer to his chest and try to move further away, although the arm of the sofa prevented him from retreating further.

There wasn't much Ken could say to that. He felt completely miserable. Worse than he'd ever felt after a match that he'd nearly lost – nearly, but never so close as to cause him concern. If there was one thing that he and Ryu had in common it was that neither of them ever conceded failure. But thinking back on his reaction to Ryu's kiss, Ken couldn't help but think that he'd somehow messed that up big time. He couldn't deny that the thought of becoming intimate with Ryu had never crossed his mind. Hell, he'd practically fantasized about it for half of his childhood! To have his fantasies come true in such a physical manner should have left him feeling giddy and triumphant. Several years ago he would've let Ryu do whatever he damn well pleased without uttering a single complaint. He had wanted Ryu that badly, and trusted him twice as much.

But, the dark abyss that Ken had sensed when Ryu had been kissing him had stolen his nerve and silenced his yearning. He couldn't allow himself to think of what Ryu's intentions were while they were mingled with something evil and impure.

When Ryu suddenly launched himself onto the sofa, covering Ken with his body and pinning him down, Ken froze for a moment in keen terror.

"What do you believe me capable of?" Ryu asked Ken hoarsely in a tone that spoke of betrayal and pain. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

But Ryu's words did nothing to quell Ken's trembling or the fear that was rising with him. "What are you trying to do?" Ken asked softly, matching Ryu's quiet tone so as not to anger him.

Ryu swallowed his own distress to whisper by Ken's ear. "You still haven't recovered so you probably can't sense it, but we are being watched. I am certain of it. I don't doubt that someone is also listening to what we are saying."

Immediately, Ken recalled the strange people who had entered his home under the false pretense of ensuring his safety. He knew that it was no coincidence that he'd succumbed to some sort of bizarre poisoning right after that short encounter. He just hadn't had enough time to properly consider why they'd gone to all the trouble of infiltrating his building. It made sense that they might have bugged the place because he hadn't discovered anything out of place or missing. But why install surveillance equipment if they'd just intended to kill him anyway?

"Try to act normal," Ryu instructed, still keeping his voice very low. "Looking scared isn't normal," he added right before he pressed a gentle kiss to Ken's cheek. Then, Ryu wrapped his arms around Ken, embracing him tightly and somewhat desperately. "You can sense it," he muttered dejectedly. "The Satsui no Hado. I had hoped to keep it from you…"

"Satsui no Hado?!" Ken tensed up even more, but soon he found himself relaxing in Ryu's embrace. He didn't know how he could let his guard down after Ryu had confessed to such an unspeakable evil.

"When we were children, you were always able to sense when I had lost control of it. Just as you can sense it burning within me now. But, I promise you, Ken, although I can no longer keep it buried, it is no threat to you. I had it under control… until the moment that I saw you collapse outside. My anger seems to be fuelling it."

"Then stop being angry," Ken pleaded.

"Explain to me how I can do that when your life is obviously in danger." Again Ryu's voice rose, only to fall again for fear of being overheard. "Take whatever you need from here and we will discuss this in more detail at your father's house."

Knowing that it was useless to argue with Ryu under the circumstances, Ken allowed Ryu to help him to his feet, and then obediently picked up a few electronic devices and his wallet before following Ryu out of the building.

**Oo I think that it was as difficult for me as it was for Ken to get through the awkwardness that Ryu created. What did you think of this part? Please let me know thru feedback! oO**


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